History FantasyCounterpartCulture / ASongOfIceAndFire

** Dorne--according to GRRM, "Dorne is Wales mixed with (Moorish) Spain and Palestine". Like the rulers of Wales, the rulers of Dorne style themselves as Princes. Like both Wales and Spain, their borders are lined with marches and many wars have been fought between them and their neighbors. Like Spain, a large mountain range separates them from the rest of the continent. And it shares the hot, dry climate of Spain and Palestine.

* The Faith of the Seven is an analogue to medieval Catholicism but lacks the Messianic figure and most of the political power, having largely been hollowed out and subverted by a continent-spanning secular empire. The Seven-faced God is also analogous to the Holy Trinity, in that the religion is monotheistic but the worshipped deity is portrayed as having multiple aspects.

** the North--Northern England and {{UsefulNotes/Scotland}}, with their retaining of First Men culture reminding of Celtic influences in Scotland. The northern mountain clans are reminiscent of the Scottish highland clans. House Stark in particular is similar to a Northern English House, the House of York, that went to war against the House of Lancaster. Its political organization, somewhat of a federation with thinly populated and isolated settlements in a vast taiga expanse swearing loyalty to a nominal overlord at the center, is somewhat similar to Kievan Rus.

** Dorne--Moorish Spain/the Mediterranean, with some Wales as well. Like the rulers of Wales, the rulers of Dorne style themselves as Princes. Like both Wales and Spain, their borders are lined with marches and many wars have been fought between them and their neighbors. Like Spain, a large mountain range separates them from the rest of the continent.

* Asshai and its native religion were probably inspired by Persia and its native religion, Zoroastrianism. The actual ''shape'' of the region it resides in, the Shadow Lands, is also obviously inspired by India, where the vast majority of surviving Parsi Zoroastrians reside today.

* The Summer Islands also resemble Africa and UsefulNotes/TheCaribbean, in the skin color of their inhabitants and in what little we know of their culture. It could also be argued that they have a more Pacific Islander based culture, as they wear feather capes much like in Hawaiian and Polynesian cultures, and their diet (mainly fruit and fish) is similar to that of the Pacific Islands.
* From what we know of the port city of Ibben, it sounds like a theoretical Inuit or Siberian native society if they had founded cities.

Lots and lots. Much of Westeros and the outlying lands seem to have been inspired by a real-world culture, Expy, or simply a well-worn fantasy trope. The most obvious are:

* We know almost nothing of Mossovy, but its extreme northeastern placement within the known world, terrain of cold forests, and folkloric reputation for hosting "shapechangers and demon hunters" – together with the phonological character of its name – all suggest a counterpart to Russia.

** The High Sparrow and his band of reformers are similar to figures in the Reformation who wanted to simplify Christianity and dispel the corruption that had infested Catholicism by the middle of the Renaissance.

* R’hllor resembles Ahura Mazda, the [[{{UsefulNotes/Zoroastrianism}} Zoroastrian]] god, in that he is the good one of two gods, as well as in his association with fire. However, as noted [[http://asoiafuniversity.tumblr.com/post/54660099013/meta-monday-the-religion here]] this is pretty much where the similarities end. He also shares the title of "lord of flame and shadow" with the [[{{UsefulNotes/Gnosticism}} Gnostic]] Demiurge. Interestingly, if the [[{{Conlang}} conlanguist]] for the TV show [[http://www.dothraki.com/2013/05/hepnon/ is to believed]], GRRM himself may have originally based the word "R’hllor" off the Arabic word for God, ''Allah''.
* While SacredHospitality is observed of all Indo-European cultures (think of the Greeks, the Vikings or the Romans), the habitat of serving salt and bread is typically Slavic, increasing the UsefulNotes/KievanRus connection to the North. In Russia (and also Ukraine and Belarus) the tradition is greeting important guests at the door with a traditionally-baked bread with a bit of salt on the top. The tradition is so typical that in Russian the idiomatic phrase "with bread and salt" is equivalent of "with open arms".

* The Old Gods are based on the Celtic gods, in that they are nature deities that inhabit the wild. The low level of dogma and organization of the Old God religion also resembles Celtic practices.
* R’hllor resembles Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian god, in that he is the good one of two gods, as well as in his association with fire. However, as noted [[http://asoiafuniversity.tumblr.com/post/54660099013/meta-monday-the-religion here]] this is pretty much where the similarities end. He also shares the title of "lord of flame and shadow" with the Gnostic Demiurge. Interestingly, if the [[{{Conlang}} conlanguist]] for the TV show [[http://www.dothraki.com/2013/05/hepnon/ is to believed]], GRRM himself may have originally based the word "R’hllor" off the Arabic word for God, ''Allah''.
* While SacredHospitality is observed of all Indo-European cultures (think of the Greeks, the Vikings or the Romans), the habitat of serving salt and bread is typically Slavic, increasing the Kievan Rus's connection to the North. In Russia (and also Ukraine and Belarus) the tradition is greeting important guests at the door with a traditionally-baked bread with a bit of salt on the top. The tradition is so typical that in Russian the idiomatic phrase "with bread and salt" is equivalent of "with open arms".

* The Free Cities are loosely based on the [[UsefulNotes/TheCityStateEra medieval Italian city-states]] (including Italian-sounding names) and some elements of Ancient Greek culture, with Braavos being a CityOfCanals like Venice and Volantis having an oligarchical form of democracy like Athens and several medieval Italian city-states. They even speak a language descended from Old Valyrian (Latin). Volantis is also one for Constantinople, as the most powerful of those cities which sees itself as the new heart of the VestigialEmpire.
* Qarth is the major trade center between East and West, like Constantinople.
* Old Ghis is a blatant counterpart of Carthage, right down to its rivalry with Valyria, the counterpart of Rome. The Slaver Cities --Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen-- are reminiscent of the Barbary States,[[note]]While the term was primarily used from the 16th to 19th centuries, these states had been some of the region's largest slave traders for hundreds of years before then.[[/note]] with their location (where the former Carthaginian Empire and later Roman Empire reigned), geography, and dependence on slave-trading to sustain themselves, as well as slave soldiers. Likewise, Qarth seems to share a great deal with ancient Baghdad.
* Westeros as a whole has many similarities to Britain, including the general shape of the continent, the wall up in the cold north to keep out barbarians (the Wall as Hadrian's Wall- or more accurately Antonine's Wall), the large and cold Northern province with an independence movement owing to keeping some Celtic/First Men culture intact rather than full assimilating to Andal/Anglo culture (Scotland), waves of conquering cultures (e.g. Aegon as William the Conqueror), and the Viking-esque [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_the_Isles isle kingdom]] off of the northwestern coast. Even the collective name of the independent kingdoms (the Seven Kingdoms is a dead ringer for the Heptarchy: the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of late antiquity and early middle ages). Specific regions tend to show their own influences:
** the North--Northern England and Scotland, with their retaining of First Men culture reminding of Celtic influences in Scotland. The northern mountain clans are reminiscent of the Scottish highland clans. House Stark in particular is similar to a Northern English House, the House of York, that went to war against the House of Lancaster. Its political organization, somewhat of a federation with thinly populated and isolated settlements in a vast taiga expanse swearing loyalty to a nominal overlord at the center, is somewhat similar to Kievan Rus.

* The Dothraki, according to GRRM, are based primarily on "Huns, Alans, Sioux, Cheyenne, and various other Amerindian tribes... some Mongol, certainly... seasoned with a dash of pure fantasy." Contrary to fan belief, he stated that "any resemblance to the Turks or Arabs is purely coincidental."
* Valyria is a fallen empire modeled on Rome, with some Atlantis/Lemuria thrown in.
* The Rhoynar culture, whose history is told in ''The World of Ice and Fire'' is somewhat modeled after the Greeks: independent city-states with a common culture, eventually conquered by Rome/Valyria. Though considering that they lost their homeland and eventually found home in Dorne/Moorish Spain, they are also quite similar to the state of Judea after the fall of Jerusalem by Rome (Valyria) which birthed the Jewish diaspora. Most Jews settled in the Iberian peninsula (equivalent to Dorne) for centuries. Within the Rhoynar, the orphans of the Greenblood bear even more similarities with Jews, as they have retained their ancient culture, while modifying it to their status as exiles.
* The Free Cities are loosely based on the medieval Italian city-states (including Italian-sounding names) and some elements of Ancient Greek culture, with Braavos being a CityOfCanals like Venice and Volantis having an oligarchical form of democracy like Athens and several medieval Italian city-states. They even speak a language descended from Old Valyrian (Latin). Volantis is also one for Constantinople, as the most powerful of those cities which sees itself as the new heart of the VestigialEmpire.

* The rarely-mentioned southern continent Sothoryos is roughly analogous to Africa during this time period.
* The Summer Islands also resemble Africa and the Caribbean in the skin color of their inhabitants and in what little we know of their culture.

* Asshai and its native religion were probably inspired by Persia and its native religion, Zoroastrianism. The actual ''shape'' of the region it resides in, The Shadow Lands, is also obviously inspired by India, where the vast majority of surviving Parsi Zoroastrians reside today.

* The Faith of the Seven is an analogue to medieval Catholicism but lacks the Messianic figure and most of the political power, having largely been hollowed out and subverted by a continent-spanning secular empire. The Seven-faced God is also analogous to the Holy Trinity in that the religion is monotheistic but is portrayed as having multiple aspects.

* R’hllor resembles Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian god, in that he is the good one of two gods, as well as in his association with fire. However, as noted [[http://asoiafuniversity.tumblr.com/post/54660099013/meta-monday-the-religion here]] this is pretty much where the similarities end. He also shares the title of "lord of flame and shadow" with the Gnostic Demiurge.

* The Dothraki, according to GRRM, are based primarily on "Huns, Alans, Sioux, Cheyenne, and various other Amerindian tribes... some Mongol, certainly... seasoned with a dash of pure fantasy." Contrary to fan belief, he stated that "any resemblance to the Turks is purely coincidental."

* Old Ghis is a blatant counterpart of Carthage, right down to its rivalry with Valyria, the counterpart of Rome. The Slaver Cities --Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen-- are reminiscent of other ancient Phoenician city-states, particularly Tyre and Sidon. Likewise, Qarth seems to share a great deal with ancient Baghdad.

** The Riverlands--Medieval Northern France (Anjou, Blois, Burgundy, Brittany, Champagne, Flanders, Maine, Normandy, and Touraine). [[ButtMonkey They also tended to get invaded a fair amount.]] Also, north-central England. Fertile and rich lands full of rivers, but lacking natural barriers so they're often used as battlegrounds during civil wars. Their place on the map also roughly corresponds to the core areas of the Danelaw, mirroring how the Riverlands were conquered by the Viking expies of the setting in the backstory.
** the Vale-- the nations of the Alp such as Austria, Switzerland, and Milan, for their terrain and architecture. Also Wales, for being a heavily mountainous jutting peninsular region with green valleys, featuring an ethnic conflict between the First Men (Celts) and Andal (Anglo-Saxon) settlers.

** the Stormlands--Medieval Germany in that they once had a massive empire that slowly fell apart over the centuries.
** the Reach--Medieval Southern France (Aquitaine, Gascony, Limoges, Marches, Perigord, Poitou, and Toulouse) due to their terrain and status as the homeland of chivalry and stereotypical knights, at least in the eyes of the common people. Also, middle-south England. The most populated region in the kingdom, immensely fertile and rich, and the heart of the kingdom's chivalry. The historical Tyrrell family hails from Essex which lies in this region; the ruling family of the Reach, the Tyrells, are named after this house.

* The Dothraki are a BornInTheSaddle culture, based on the Mongols, Alans, Huns, Thracians, and Turkic peoples as well as some plains Native Americans.

* Westeros as a whole has many similarities to Britain, including the general shape of the continent, the wall up in the cold north to keep out barbarians (the Wall as Hadrian's Wall), and waves of conquering cultures (e.g. Aegon as William the Conqueror). Even the collective name of the independent kingdoms (The Seven Kingdoms is a dead ringer for the Heptarchy: the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of late antiquity and early middle ages. Specific regions tend to show their own influences:
** the North--Northern England and Scotland, with their retaining of First Men culture reminding of Celtic influences in Scotland. The northern mountain clans are reminiscent of the Scottish highland clans. House Stark in particular is similar to a Northern English House, the House of York, that went to war against the House of Lancaster. It's also a vast, cold land GrimUpNorth which is hard to assault due to heavy winters, similar to Russia.
** the Iron Islands--Viking Scandinavia and/or Ireland due to their culture of being seafaring raiders (which the Vikings were most famous for, but the Irish did their fair share of, too), with their independent streak reminding of Ireland's relationship with the rest of Britain. They bear an even stronger resemblance to the seafaring hybrid Norse-Gaelic culture of the Hebrides under the [=MacDonald=] Lords of the Isles.
** the Riverlands--Medieval Northern France (Anjou, Blois, Burgundy, Brittany, Champagne, Flanders, Maine, Normandy, and Touraine). [[ButtMonkey They also tended to get invaded a fair amount.]]
** the Vale--The Alps, for their terrain and tendency to remain neutral
** the Westerlands--Westen England. House Lannister is based on a Western English House called the House of Lancaster (coat of arms a golden lion on a red background) who went to war against the House of York.

** the Reach--Medieval Southern France (Aquitaine, Gascony, Limoges, Marches, Perigord, Poitou, and Toulouse) due to their terrain and status as the homeland of chivalry and stereotypical knights, at least in the eyes of the common people.

** north of The Wall--the wildlings/freefolk are roughly analogous to the Pictish tribes north of Hadrian's wall.

* The Faith of the Seven is an analogue to medieval Catholicism but lacks the Messianic figure. The Seven-faced God is also analogous to the Holy Trinity in that the religion is monotheistic but is portrayed as having multiple aspects.

* While SacredHospitality is observed of all Indo-European cultures (think of the Greeks, the Vikings or the Romans), the habitat of serving salt and bread is typically Slavic. In Russia (and also Ukraine and Belarus) the tradition is greeting important guests at the door with a traditionally-baked bread with a bit of salt on the top. The tradition is so typical that in Russian the idiomatic phrase "with bread and salt" is equivalent of "with open arms".

* R’hllor resembles Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian god, in that he is the good one of two gods, as well as in his association with fire. However, as noted [[http://asoiafuniversity.tumblr.com/post/54660099013/meta-monday-the-religion here]] this is pretty much where the similarities end. He also shares the title of "lord of flame and shadow" with the Gnostic Demiurge.

** the North--Northern England and Scotland, with their retaining of First Men culture reminding of Celtic influences in Scotland. The northern mountain clans are reminiscent of the Scottish highland clans. House Stark in particular is similar to a Northern English House, House York, that went to war against House Lancaster. It's also a vast, cold land GrimUpNorth which is hard to assault due to heavy winters, similar to Russia.

** the Westerlands--Westen England. House Lannister is based on a Western English House called House Lancaster (coat of arms a golden lion on a red background) who went to war against House York.

** the Iron Islands--Viking Scandinavia due to their culture of being seafaring raiders, with their independent streak reminding of Ireland's relationship with the rest of Britain

** the North--Northern England and Scotland, with their retaining of First Men culture reminding of Celtic influences in Scotland. The northern mountain clans are reminiscent of the Scottish highland clans. It's also a vast, cold land GrimUpNorth which is hard to assault due to heavy winters, similar to Russia.

** the Westerlands--Westen England. House Lannister is based on a English House called House Lancaster- whose coat of arms was a golden lion on a red background.

* Westeros as a whole has many similarities to Britain, including waves of conquering cultures (e.g. Aegon as William the Conqueror) and a wall up in the cold north to keep out barbarians. Even the collective name of the independent kingdoms (The Seven Kingdoms is a dead ringer for the Heptarchy: the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of late antiquity and early middle ages. Specific regions tend to show their own influences:

** the Westerlands--Southern England

* The Free Cities are loosely based on the medieval Italian city-states (including Italian-sounding names) and some elements of Ancient Greek culture, with Braavos being a CityOfCanals like Venice and Volantis having an oligarchical form of democracy like Athens and several medieval Italian city-states. They even speak a language descended from Old Valyrian (Latin).

** the North--Northern England and Scotland, with their retaining of First Men culture reminding of Celtic influences in Scotland. The northern mountain clans are reminiscent of the Scottish highland clans.

* The Summer Islands also resemble Africa and the Carribean in the skin color of their inhabitants and in what little we know of their culture.

* The Summer Islands also resemble Africa in the skin color of their inhabitants and in what little we know of their culture.

* The Faith of the Seven is an analogue to Christianity but lacks the Messianic figure. The Seven-faced God is also analogous to the Holy Trinity in that the religion is monotheistic but is portrayed as having multiple aspects.

* The Dothraki are a BornInTheSaddle culture, based on the Mongols, Alans, Huns, Thracians, and Turkic peoples.

** the North--Northern England and Scotland, with their retaining of First Men culture reminding of Celtic influences in Scotland
** the Iron Islands--Viking Scandinavia due to their culture of raping and pillaging, with their independentist streak reminding of Ireland's relationship with the rest of Britain

** Dorne--Moorish Spain/the Mediterranean, with some Wales as well. Like the rulers of Wales, the rulers of Dorne style themselves as Princes. Like both Wales and Spain, their borders are lined with marches and many wars have been fought between them and their neighbors. Like Spain, a large mountain range separates them from the Reach/Southern France.
** Beyond the Wall--Northern Scotland; the Northern mountain clans are reminiscent of Scottish Highland Clans

* R’hllor resembles Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian god, in that he is the good one of two gods, as well as in his association with fire.

* The Rhoynar culture, whose history is told in ''The World of Ice and Fire'' is somewhat modeled after the Greeks: independent city-states with a common culture, eventually conquered by Rome/Valyria. Though considering that they lost their homeland and eventually found home in Dorne/Moorish Spain, they are also quite similar to the state of Judea after the fall of the Jerusalem which birthed the Jewish diaspora, most of whom settled in the Iberian peninsula for centuries.
* The Free Cities are loosely based on the medieval Italian city-states (including Italian-sounding names) and some elements of Ancient Greek culture, with Braavos being a CityOfCanals like Venice and Volantis having an oligarchical form of democracy like Athens. They even speak a language descended from Old Valyrian.

** the North--Northern England and Scotland
** the Iron Islands--Viking Scandinavia, with their independentist streak reminding of Ireland's relationship with the rest of Britain

** the Vale--The Alps
** the Westerlands--Southern England
** Dragonstone--Wales, in that the heir apparent to the throne is named Prince of Dragonstone.
** the Stormlands--Medieval Germany
** the Reach--Medieval Southern France (Aquitaine, Gascony, Limoges, Marches, Perigord, Poitou, and Toulouse)
** Dorne--Moorish Spain/the Mediterranean, with some Wales as well. Like the rulers of Wales, the rulers of Dorne style themselves as Princes.

* The Faith of the Seven is an analogue to Christianity but lacks the Messianic figure. The Seven-faced God is also analogous to the Holy Trinity in that the religion is monotheistic but is portrayed as having multiple aspects.

* From what we know of the port city of Ibben, it sounds like a theoretical Inuit or Siberian native society if they had founded cities.

* Asshai and its native religion were probably inspired by Persia and its native religion, Zoroastrianism. The actual ''shape'' of the continent is also obviously inspired by India, where the vast majority of surviving Parsi Zoroastrians reside today.

** the Riverlands--Medieval Northern France (Anjou, Blois, Burgundy, Brittany, Champagne, Flanders, Maine, Normandy, and Touraine)

* Asshai and its native religion were probably inspired by Persia and its native religion, Zoroastrianism.

* The Rhoynar culture, whose history is told in ''The World of Ice and Fire'' is somewhat modeled after the Greeks: independent city-states with a common culture, eventually conquered by Rome/Valyri. Though considering that they lost their homeland and eventually found home in Dorne/Moorish Spain, they are also quite similar to the state of Judea after the fall of the Jerusalem which birthed the Jewish diaspora, most of whom settled in the Iberian peninsula for centuries.
* The Free Cities are loosely based on the medieval Italian city-states (including Italian-sounding names) and some elements of Ancient Greek culture, with Braavos being a CityOfCanals like Venice and Volantis having a oligarchical form of democracy like Athens. They even speak a language descended from Old Valyrian.
* Old Ghis is a blatant counterpart of Carthage, right down to its rivalry with Valyria, the counterpart of Rome. The Slaver Cities --Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen-- are reminiscent of other ancient Phoenician city-states, particularly Tyre and Sidon. Likewise, Qarth seems to share a great deal with ancient Baghdad.
* Westeros as a whole has many similarities to Britain, including waves of conquering cultures (e.g. Aegon as William the Conqueror) and a wall up in the cold north to keep out barbarians. Even the colective name of the independent kingdoms (The Seven Kingdoms is a dead ringer for the Heptarchy: the Anglo-saxon kingdoms of late antiquity and early middle ages. Specific regions tend to show their own influences:

** the Reach--Medieval Southern France (Aquitaine, Gascony, Limoges, Marches, Perigord, Poitou and Toulouse)